In a nearly dark corner of lower Manhattan, in an area otherwise known as Tribeca, Rabbi Zalman Paris stands tall, cellular phone in hand, to answer another call from a young volunteer eager to offer assistance. Days after Hurricane Sandy left millions across New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and New Jersey without electricity, food or water, there are plenty of people who want to help victims and their communities recover.

From his window, Paris, director of Chabad-Lubavitch of Tribeca and SoHo, watched the storm hurl itself into the homes and lives of residents nearby. The storm prevented him from venturing outdoors, but the moment he was able to, the rabbi assembled a plan and a team to help his neighbors.

“Many organizations have joined us in our efforts to help those in need during this hard time,” he said.

Paris partnered with Rabbi Levi Shmotkin of Chabad Young Professionals, Ari Teman of JCorps, and Julie Menin, a candidate for Manhattan Borough President.

“We brought in a paramedic to aid the elderly, who with no way out of their buildings needed immediate medical attention,” Shmotkin relayed.

Menin detailed that she kept the 10,000 people on her contact list updated by email.

“People would email that they needed food, water, diapers and baby formula. I then sent an email blast to Rabbi Paris,” said Menin.

All told, more than 100 volunteers traversed lower Manhattan, crisscrossing the city’s streets to visit nearly 3,000 apartment units in one day alone.

One longtime JCorps volunteer named Jillian described her experience as “eye opening.” More than 100 volunteers assisted the Tribeca effort.

“Today we visited some housing developments of the lower east side to bring food and water to the elderly and disabled citizens who are without,” she said. “You really become thankful for what you do have during a time like this.”

With the Sabbath approaching, they are hoping that the electricity will be restored.

“We may not have power, but we will definitely be spending the Sabbath with the many people and volunteers who are here with us,” said Paris. “Although many fled the neighborhood prior to the storm, our focus was on those that didn’t have anywhere to go.”

In a world where freshwater resources are becoming increasingly scarce, Israel–a country that is two-thirds arid–has become a leader in developing the necessary technology for making salt water potable.

The Israeli desalination company, IDE Technologies, which has been in operation for more than 40 years, has made many advances in desalination technology, installing over 400 desalination plants in 40 countries including the Caribbean Islands and United States. IDE Technologies has also won major contracts with Cyprus, India and Australia, and last year with China.

Since 2011, the Israeli-built desalination plant in Tianjin is China’s largest and most environmentally friendly desalination plant to date, running on some of the waste heat produced by a nearby power plant, producing fresh water and salt.

However, desalination plants for the most part are extremely costly for less-developed nations, as they use enormous amounts of electricity and are location-sensitive. But thanks to a recent Israeli discovery, the desalination system may become much more affordable in areas like Africa and the Middle East.

Researchers from the Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research at Ben Gurion University of the Negev and central Arava R&D, have found a way to utilize solar energy at a fraction of the cost which can be custom-engineered for the desalination process, according to the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA).

The new innovation uses solar energy panels to power the pumps of a desalination unit that generates clean water for crops. More importantly, the technology utilizes unique nanofiltration membranes that enable farmers to decide which minerals should be retained from the water to feed various types of crops, a method which requires much less energy. The new system is currently being tested in the Arava Valley of Israel, south of the Dead Sea, where the basin is very dry. The results thus far show that farmers can use up to 25 percent less water and fertilizer than what has usually been needed in that area.

According to Andrea Ghermandi of the Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research at Ben-Gurion University and one of the system’s creators, the current environment is forcing agricultural systems to become more economical. Ghermandi told the MFA that “the growing global demand for food and competition for resources among economic sectors compel future agricultural systems to be more efficient in the use of natural resources such as land and water.”

Another important researcher in the discovery, Ben Gurion University’s Rami Messalem explained that the” breakthrough here was to make the system more economical and we’ve done this using nanofiltration cleverly. Our system is compatible with electricity but is based on the premise that it can be used in poor countries, in places where you don’t have an electricity source—as a standalone system.”

The MFA website indicated that the new desalination system was made possible thanks to funding from Swiss philanthropist Samuel Josefowitz.

The unintended consequence of the hostile cancellation of Egypt’s natural gas contract with Israel may result in increased blackouts in Gaza. Benjamin Netanyahu’s Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan says Israel should consider cutting its supply of electricity to the Gaza Strip this summer in face of predicted power shortages.

Speaking at the start of Sunday’s cabinet meeting, Erdan said that before he is asked to authorize the use of more pollutants, to meet Israel’s severe fuel shortage and anticipated blackouts this summer, the Gaza Strip—which gets its electricity from the Israel Electric Company—should be taken off the grid.

“Take care of your own needs first,” Erdan told the ministers. “It’s unreasonable that if there’s an electricity shortage, we’ll cut off the supply to Israelis – but not to Gaza, which we left seven years ago and have no responsibility for.”

In a letter Erdan had sent to fellow ministers, he argued that “if there are power shortages in Israel this summer, the supply of electricity to the Gaza Strip should be halted… It represents 4.5 percent of Israeli production.”

“Electricity production will be less than demand this summer,” Erdan told Israel’s Army Radio on Sunday.

“We are looking at using production methods that are more polluting and alternative energy sources like solar but we may still have to have electricity outages,” Edran said.

Referring to late payments by the Palestinian Authority for the 120 megawatts which Israel supplies Gaza, Erdan added, “If we are in that situation it would be absurd for Israelis to be the first ones affected while at the same time we continue to provide electricity to Gaza, while they are not paying.”

Fawzi Barhoum, spokesman of the Islamist movement Hamas which controls Gaza, said Erdan’s “threats… exposed the true face of the occupation.”

“What is required from the Arab countries, and Egypt in particular, is the creation of an Arab, Egyptian safety net for the residents of Gaza in light of the Zionist blackmail,” he added.

Israel’s energy generation was heavily depended on natural gas supplies from Egypt, which have been closed off pending a renegotiations of the 2005 contract.

The Gaza Strip experienced its worst electricity crisis this year, with diminishing fuel supplies from Egypt forcing the shutting down of Gaza’s only power plant.

Gaza experienced power cuts of up to 18 hours a day, but the situation improved after a deal last month between Gaza’s Hamas government and the Palestinian Authority, which agreed to supply Gaza with fuel purchased from Israel.

The PA and Hamas agreed that the cost of the 500,000 liters per day of fuel for the plant would be met from revenue collected from customers by the Gaza electricity company.

Gaza’s electricity company generates 80 megawatts. It receives 120 megawatts from Israel and 80 megawatts from Egypt, which combined only meets about two-thirds of demand.

Erdan accused the Hamas government of punishing its own population by cutting off power to some civilians while keeping the lights on in areas where it enjoys political support.

Erdan said cutting the export of electricity to Gaza would be done only as a result of need and not “collective punishment” of Gaza’s civilian population.

AFP reports that Israel and Cyprus have signed an accord Sunday to lay an underwater electricity cable between the two countries. It’s the first stage in an effort to transfer power between mainland Europe and Israel.

The cable, to be complete by 2016, will stretch 178 miles, at a depth of 6,550 feet.

Israel Electric Corporation CEO Yiftach Ron Tal declared at the signing that the “Euro-Asia Interconnect,” with the capacity to transfer 2,000 megawatt, will forever free Israel: “No more Israel as an economic island.”

Additional underwater cables will connect Cyprus and mainland Europe via Greece, who also signed the agreement. Israel’s Energy and Water Minister Uzi Landau said “Israel will be able to receive backup electricity from Cyprus and Europe, and in the future, we will be able to provide them with energy.”